Social Followers vs Email Lists: Which one drives more Backers?

Summary

In this video, the speaker discusses the best approach for building a crowdfunding campaign by emphasizing the importance of email marketing over social media. While social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook can help build awareness, they are costly and not owned by users, limiting their effectiveness. The key takeaway is to collect potential backers' emails, as they are a valuable asset that you control. The speaker advises using social media as a tool to direct traffic to a landing page where emails can be collected, ensuring lower costs and more direct communication with backers.

Takeaways

• 😀 Social media followers are not owned by the business and can be lost if the platform changes its algorithms.
• 😀 Relying solely on social media to grow your business can be risky due to limited organic reach and high costs to promote content.
• 😀 Social media marketing is expensive because you pay both to acquire followers and to reach them with your offers or products.
• 😀 Email lists are a valuable asset that you fully own, unlike social media followers, and they provide long-term marketing advantages.
• 😀 Collecting emails before a crowdfunding campaign allows you to build an asset you can use to contact potential backers anytime, for free.
• 😀 Using social media should be a part of your strategy, but the primary focus should be on collecting emails rather than just gaining followers.
• 😀 You can use social media as a bridge to collect email addresses, which are more valuable for future direct outreach compared to social media followers.
• 😀 Facebook groups can be a great tool for keeping in touch with potential backers and promoting your crowdfunding campaign in a more targeted way.
• 😀 Instagram profiles, Facebook pages, and groups are essential for connecting with your audience, but they are not enough on their own to build a sustainable marketing base.
• 😀 Creating a Facebook group around your crowdfunding project allows people interested in similar campaigns to find and engage with your project, which increases conversion opportunities.
• 😀 Focusing on building an email list should be your number one priority in crowdfunding, as it is both cheaper and more effective than focusing solely on social media.

Q & A

Why is it important to not solely focus on growing social media followers for crowdfunding campaigns?

Because social media followers are not owned by the campaign organizer, and platforms can change their algorithms at any time, limiting the visibility of your posts. Additionally, reaching out to followers often requires paying the platform again, making it more expensive.

What is the main risk associated with relying heavily on social media for growing a business?

The main risk is that social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram are controlled by external companies. If they change their algorithms or policies, you could lose access to your followers or be unable to effectively promote your business without additional costs.

Why is collecting email addresses considered a better strategy than growing social media followers for crowdfunding campaigns?

Email addresses are an owned asset that you have full control over. Unlike social media followers, you don't need to pay to reach out to them, and you can contact them as many times as you want without incurring additional costs.

What are the two costs associated with social media followers when promoting a crowdfunding campaign?

The first cost is acquiring followers as part of your audience, and the second cost is paying the platform to promote your posts to those followers due to limited organic reach.

What is meant by saying that email lists are 'assets' for a business?

An email list is a valuable asset because it is owned by the campaign organizer and can be used to contact potential backers directly. Unlike social media followers, email contacts cannot be taken away by a platform, making them more reliable for communication.

How does using email marketing for a crowdfunding campaign reduce costs?

Once you have an email list, you can contact your potential backers for free, as sending emails doesn't incur additional charges. This is more cost-effective compared to paying social media platforms to reach your followers.

What is the primary advantage of collecting emails over social media followers for a crowdfunding campaign?

The primary advantage is the ability to have direct, cost-free communication with your potential backers, which is more reliable and cheaper than relying on social media platforms to reach them.

Can social media still play a role in a crowdfunding campaign, even if email collection is prioritized?

Yes, social media should still be used as a tool to attract people to your campaign. It's important to have social media profiles, especially for credibility, but the focus should be on driving people to a landing page where you can collect emails.

Why is it recommended to focus on Facebook groups rather than Facebook pages for crowdfunding campaigns?

Facebook groups allow for more direct interaction and can create a community around your project, which can later be used to convert members into email subscribers and backers. Facebook pages are less effective for ongoing engagement.

What should be the ultimate goal when using social media for a crowdfunding campaign?

The ultimate goal should be to use social media to drive traffic to a landing page where you can collect emails. The social media platforms themselves are just tools for reaching people and not the primary method for building an audience for your campaign.